Dominant Dean Harrison delivers sensational Superbike TT victory
Setting off from third position on the road behind Nathan Harrison and John McGuinness MBE on the stunning 1996 tribute CBR1000RR-R Fireblade, Dean converted the promising form shown all year into dominance. By the end of lap one, Dean Harrison was first on the road and opened his six-lap account with a 134.892mph lap. This was the fastest ever opening lap of an Isle of Man TT race.
Having built a gap of 15 seconds by the Black Dub on lap two, Dean showed absolutely no sign of slowing the pace. Meanwhile, John McGuinness rode an opening lap of 131.185mph and looked good doing it on the 1996 tribute Fireblade.
Pitstops for both Honda Racing UK riders were slick, with no spills, slips or snags to report.
Dean increased his lead, pushing it from 21 seconds to 33 at one point. His riding was precise, his body language calm and his sector times strong.
Having settled into fifth place on the leaderboard John McGuinness reduced an eight second deficit to Josh Brookes in fourth down to 1.2 seconds and looked threatening.
With a 28.5 second lead from lap five, Dean reduced his pace by a fraction, allowing the gap to Peter Hickman in second place to close to 15.5 seconds. After six laps and 226.38 flat out miles of road racing, John McGuinness crossed the line in fifth position with a closing lap of 132.2mph. Dean Harrison crossed the line to claim his first Superbike win at the Isle of Man TT races.
Dean Harrison
I pushed hard as soon as I could from the get-go and built a lead that I managed with good board and maintaining my focus. I carried solid pace from practice week and was confident I had what I needed to deliver for me and for the team. Conditions were not far from ideal, aside from some of the white lines in the middle of the road having less grip than usual. We all had to deal with the same thing though so I didn’t lose out there. To win a six-lap race here is something special and I’m really pleased I was able to do that for everyone in the team and for Honda too.
John McGuinness MBE
It felt like the whole world was watching me make my way to the line today. The bike and my kit looked absolutely outstanding and it felt ace to be able to back it up with a strong ride. Once the race got going I settled into a pace that felt good. A standing start 131mph lap was a nice reward for my riding and it felt positive to be able to hold a strong second place on the road through lap two and into three. The 132mph laps were comfortable too. I left my braking late into Parliament Square and ran a fraction wide on the exit but it felt completely manageable. I had no plan to just turn up and ride round today and wanted to push for me and for the team. Sometimes that means you have to be prepared to deal with very small mistakes, so I dealt with it. I closed the gap to fourth place down to just over a second at one point but Josh Brookes was riding well and he managed his board just right. My final lap of the race was a 132.2mph, not a million miles from my fastest ever lap at the TT. The personal highlight of the race was seeing people respond to the covers coming off the bike at the line, for the team I think it has to be seeing Dean get what he deserves with such a dominant win. He delivered a masterclass today and I couldn’t be happier for him.
